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Checkers Crowning – The Peak of a Checkers Game

Aside from actually winning the game, the one thing that most any player would like to happen in any game of checkers is having one of their pieces crowned. Crowning in checkers is defined as placing a single checkers piece on top of one of your own checkers pieces that has managed to reach the king’s row or the furthest point of the board from the advancing player. The checkers piece that is placed on top of the “crowned” piece is one that has been previously captured or jumped over, and has subsequently been removed from the board, rendering it out of action.

What is the Significance of Crowning in Checkers?

As the term king’s row suggests, crowning basically promotes a checkers piece into a king piece. This is a significant achievement for any checkers player, as a king can bring about a number of advantages if you have one or more on your side. For one thing, the checkers king now will now have the added ability to execute moves backward as well as forward. Regular checkers pieces are of course limited only to a forward motion. In addition, any checkers piece that has been crowned a king will now be allowed to make jumps in either direction–and even in both directions–all within a single turn of the player. This is typically done when the move calls for multiple jumps or captures.

As you can imagine, having a checkers piece crowned as king makes it the most powerful piece on the entire board, which is why many checkers players focus a lot of their playing strategy into trying to get as many crowned kings as possible. While the presence of one or more king’s does not automatically assure you of a sure victory in the game, there is no doubt that it can significantly increase your chances of winning, as well as serve to demoralize your opponent.

Keep in mind that if you do manage to get any one of your previously uncrowned checkers pieces onto the king’s row–whether it is from a capturing move or a single square move–you must stop in order to allow that piece to be crowned even if there is another potential capture option available at the moment. You will be able to use that piece as a king on your next move.

A more detailed explanation of the king and how crowning is used in checkers can be found in the Glossary of Useful Terms.